Making yogurt:~day 23

Prior to the last couple weeks I’ve made yogurt a few times successfully and I even  posted a how-to last year.  I’ve also goofed making it on a handful of occasions.   It’s kind of like bread making.  You make a few good loaves and you get all cocky then you screw up a few and your back to being humble.

My friend recently shared how she makes it and I like her method best.  I have yet to screw it up!  I’ve been making it weekly for the past month from raw organic jersey milk.  One of my other friends delivers to me weekly.  How lucky am I?  Fresh, raw milk in a glass jug delivered to my house every week.  The milk is good for about a week and I usually try and make the yogurt with it just before it is about to turn but not always.

Initially I bought a small container of plain Greek yogurt for a starter. After the first time making yogurt I used the previous week’s yogurt as a starter.  I make a quart at a time but it would be easy enough to double the recipe if you wanted.

1. Bring 1 quart of milk to a gentle bubbling for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Turn off heat, let stand for a couple minutes.
3. Take out approximately 1 cup of warm liquid and place in jar of choice.
4. Add 2 Tablespoons of dry milk & 2 Tablespoons of yogurt.
5. Shake in jar.
6. 15 minutes later or so add remaining liquid to jar, shake, wrap in towel and place in dark area overnight.
7. Refrigerate in the morning.

THAT’S it!  This recipe is very forgiving so if you mess one step up it may still come out.  (I’m talking from experience here)  Last batch I flavored with vanilla extract and honey, next batch I plan to add maple syrup.

Give it a try, it beats buying it in the store and you know exactly what the ingredients are.

For those who wonder….:~day 22

CB preparing to make squirrel stew all on his own.  He never asked me for a bit of help.  He brought it over to his cousin’s to share with a loaf of fresh bread.  Tonight when I came home from work he was making pumpkin chocolate chip whoppie pies and he even cooked up the pumpkins rather then grabbing a can from the cupboard.

RECENT COMMENT ON MY BLOG….

“I’m curious, how do your kids feel about being such major providers for the family larder? Is it just business as usual or do they have a sense of pride that they helped put meat on the table? Was it hard for your daughter to shoot a deer for the first time or is she more of a practical person about it? Are they so used to life and death on the farm that hunting is sort of an extension on that? I know that’s a lot of questions, but my kids are talking about learning to hunt and I guess I’m wondering about the psychological aspect of it. I never went hunting with my father, just fishing, so I don’t have my own experiences to fall back on.”

FG cooking deer steak.  We’ve been eating in nearly every day.

MY RESPONSE TO THE COMMENT ABOVE :

GREAT QUESTIONS!! My kids take much pride in providing for our family. They are actively involved in many aspects of putting food on the table from picking eggs, feeding and watering animals, hunting and foraging, and helping my husband process some of the livestock we raise. It is normal life for them. Our children thrive in this homesteading environment. My daughter did cry after shooting the deer but mostly out of excitement. I think she was unsure of herself, unsure that she could kill a deer so she was overwhelmed with emotion. I also think anytime you take the life of another there is a humbling moment and damn there should be. Hunting I guess is an extension of what we do and it is something my husband is passionate about therefore my kids are. It is sad that as a society we have taken the faces of the animals away from meat in the supermarket. In my eyes children of today should all learn these basic survival skills as someday they made need to know them.

Better Late then Never:~day 21

Flower Girl the crazy Red Riding Hood along with her cousin the Lumber Jack.  Love their costumes!

Never Say Never:~day 20

A couple years ago I received and e-mail asking me what I thought about getting goats.  I wrote my friend back with a rather extensive list on why NOT to get goats and I believe I told her I would NEVER own another goat in my life.  This past summer the goat count went as high as 9, now we are holding steady at 6.  I milked 2 does throughout the summer but they are all dry now and in the process of being breed.  Moral of the story….Never Say Never cause you may just eat your words as I did….

:~day 19

I swear I warned them all!  No more babies, winter is coming.  Defiant bunnies and ducks.  Muscovies anyone?  We have just a handful left.  Attempting to minimize before winter!

Outdoor Fitness:~day 18

I’ve just started reading Outdoor Fitness by Tina Vindum. I am really liking it and hoping to get some new ideas from it. My days in the gym are done (as of now, anyway). Of course now that I have a free membership through my workplace to several gyms I feel that way. LOL….Anyone have any suggestions for good reads about outdoor fitness?

What was I thinking:~day 17

Not sure whatever possessed me to say I would post 30 days in a row. (on a somewhat daily basis)

Regardless I am sticking to it, so here is some RANDOM pics from our life as of lately.

Anatomy & Physiology as Mother Nature intended. Lucky kids to have such a fine dad that teaches them everything he knows.

My friend’s sheep. A few weeks back we took a stroll out back on her land to a babbling brook and waterfall. There we sat and talked. Moments like that make me feel blessed for my friends that I spend time with regularly and those I just get to visit with from time to time.

Nothing like home-grown chicken! The kids and Maine Man processed 20 of our meat birds last week. We have more that they plan to do in the next week or two. Some we bartered with and the rest will feed our family until Spring.

With Thanksgiving approaching and cranberries in season I have made cranberry sauce twice and plan to make it this weekend for a friend. I figured I would post the link in case anyone wanted to give it a try.

The kids just after Flower Girl shot her deer. Always a humbling moment when you take the life of another in order to sustain your own.

Gingerbread cookies in October, why not?

The kids used cookie cutters on the pumpkins, they came out pretty good.

School is going good for the most part. I have much more confidence this year then our first year homeschooling. It is not without its moments but we surely will have no regrets with this commitment. It has been fun to learn along with the kids for both Maine Man and I. We each have our strength and weaknesses. We are all really liking the book series Dear America. We just finished reading My Heart is on the Ground. I cannot wait to start the next book in the series. My Name is America is also being enjoyed by the kids.

Anyone else still battling to fill the barn, garage, woodshed before snow flies?